WE ALL CAN HELP TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE

We're all hearing a lot about global warming these days. The Bali climate convention helped raise awareness of this important issue among us.

For sure, the science involved is complex, and solutions may often seem beyond our abilities to comprehend, but as member of the human race we have a clear responsibility to protect our planet and to ensure we leave it in good shape for future generations. Thankfully, the topic has been made more understandable by the likes of former U.S vice president Al Gore, who made the popular movie on climate change called An Incovenient Truth. In his must-see movie, Gore explains that our thin layer of atmosphere, reqired for maintaining the temperature on Earth within comfortable bounds, is getting thicker because of huge quantities of human-induced carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. This is trapping a lot of infrared radiation that would otherwise escape out into space, causing our atmosphere and oceans to get dangerously warmer. Sadly, deforestation, the degradation of peat land and forest fire have put Indonesia among the top three largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world. Emission resulting from deforestation and forest fires are five times those from non-forestry processes.